The Green Bay Packers primarily want defense from their rookies.

First-round cornerback Jaire Alexander can hop right into the starting lineup as a third corner if necessary, provided he makes the jump well. And second-round corner Josh Jackson, 6’0 to Alexander’s 5’10, has long arms and a track record of being productive around the football. He gives the Packers more options on the boundary.

And while normally a third-round pick won’t face a ton of pressure, the Packers traded up to secure Vanderbilt’s Oren Burks, a 6’3, 233-pound tweener (isn’t it great this isn’t a negative word anymore in football analysis?) who can float between safety and linebacker based on the package, a necessity in the pass-happy NFL.

Third-round rookie Jordan Akins out of UCF might be the sleeper to see the most playing time. A guy with experience at wideout and tight end, Akins could play himself into a large chunk of time at tight end in the wake of C.J. Fiedorowicz’s retirement.

Clearly, though, Houston went into this knowing the draft wasn’t going to offer a ton of instant impact. It’s up to the players to carve out playing time, but focus on development while getting ready to take over at a later date is the likely scenario.

The Astros landed the first punch, the Yankees the next two.

Then came Thursday, a day in which Yankees had the Astros on the ropes, were knocked down and then got back up in the final round to deliver a knockout punch.

This 6-5 comeback win won’t make up for losing last year’s ALCS in seven games, but this whole week was a statement that they’re on a mission to make 2018 an even better season.

Down 5-3 in the ninth, the Yankees staged a three-run rally to pull ahead and then went on to close out the win to take three of four from the Astros in this showdown series.

After loading the bases with nobody out, rookie Gleyber Torres laced a game-tying single and Aaron Judge put the Yankees ahead two batters later with a run-producing fielder’s choice groundball.

Even after that, the Yankees had one final scare when the Astros put two on with two out in the bottom of the ninth facing closer Aroldis Chapman.

But after Evan Gattis reached on a wild pitch when Cheap College Basketball Jerseys he was striking out and George Springer followed with a single to left, Chapman Cheap Denver Broncos Jerseys struck out 2017 NL MVP Jose Altuve on three pitches to end the game.

It’s on fifth-round linebacker Shaquem Griffin.

The Buccaneers quietly doubled up on cornerbacks with two more second-round picks, grabbing M.J. Stewart out of North Carolina and Carlton Davis from Auburn. The former looks like he could double as a safety if asked, and the latter is a lanky boundary guy with star potential, so the need here is for both to find their best assignment and make the most of it to enable Tampa Bay to start phasing out secondary members like Chris Conte.

That’s really it for Tennessee, though, as fifth-round defensive back Dane Cruikshank projects more as a special teams force and sixth-round quarterback Luke Falk isn’t likely to beat out Blaine Gabbert as the primary backup for Marcus Mariota.

Meaning, Tennessee’s top two rookies need to come in and bolster an already-strong defensive unit.

But it’s one thing to throw passes in early May, and to be considered healthy. And it’s another thing to really prove health under the duress of training camp practices and preseason games.

Especially when you’re coming off a serious knee injury, like Bridgewater is.

He hasn’t played in essentially two seasons he threw two passes in one game last year so there should still be a lot of skepticism about whether he can regain his pre-injury form.

Bridgewater’s non-contact injury in 2016 training camp was devastating for him. The Jets are giving him another shot, but they are obviously (and wisely) cautiously optimistic about him, at best. They gave him just $500,000 guaranteed (his signing bonus). If they cut him, they’d free up $5.5 million in salary cap space, rather the retaining him with a $6 million cap figure in 2018.

Let’s see what Bridgewater does during actual practices that involve Cheap Blank Hockey Jerseys running around and facing some semblance of a defense. If his knee looks healthy then, great. It could make for a fantastic comeback story. If not, it’s no loss for the Jets, since they didn’t Cheap Baseball Jerseys China invest a ton in him.

Tony Gonzalez: Jason Witten is 1st-ballot Hall of Famer

Recent news that Jason Witten was considering retirement came as a shock. Now that it’s official, it’s time to reflect and line him up for future recognition.

The guy can block, he can catch and he can do both of them at an elite level, which make him to me in my mind a 100 percent complete tight end –something you don’t see nowadays anymore, Gonzalez said during a Thursday interview that will appear on NFL Up to the Minute on NFL Network.

As we trend toward a split in styles of tight ends, with some of the next generation serving as pure pass-catchers acquired for defensive mismatches and all but ditching blocking responsibilities, Witten was a model of both. He blocked willingly and effectively, and cleared the way for four 1,000-yard rushers ( DeMarco Murray did it twice in 2013 and 2014) during his 15-year career in Dallas.

The Philadelphia Eagles spent the 2018 offseason adding to a Super Bowl-caliber defensive line, but they might be without one of their starters for an extended period of time.

SportsRadio 94 WIP’s Howard Eskin reported on Tuesday that defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, who started all but one game for the Eagles during their 2017 title run, has undergone surgery for a herniated disc and will miss the team’s offseason program.

The Laser Spine Institute says a standard recovery from a herniated disc, or an issue with the discs between spinal bones, can take anywhere from six to eight weeks. But recent players who sustained similar injuries like the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt and Jernigan’s former teammate, the Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco have sometimes faced even longer recoveries.

I think there is always things I can learn from,’OK, maybe I shouldn’t have been so aggressive there.’ There is a time and a place for it. Injuries happen. I believe this one was kind of a freak incident and that is just part of the game. There is always a learning curve. But overall, as an aggressive player, I am not going to change in that sense, I am just going to keep learning. I’m going to be learning how to preserve myself, how to be smart, when to take those chances, when it’s worthwhile, it’s a constant learning throughout my career, but it’s definitely something I am taking seriously at the same time.

Wentz tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee against the Los Angeles Rams in December on a play in which he scrambled and dove head-first into the end zone, taking on a pair of defenders, though most agree the injury happened before the contact. The play was negated by a holding Cheap Authentic MLB Jerseys call. Wentz stayed in the game and managed to throw a touchdown pass before limping off the field. He Cheap NFL Jerseys Paypal was forced to sit out the rest of the season.